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Carole Johnstone. Ad Astra. (Interzone #248, Sep-Oct 2013)

A story that successfully builds tension throughout – think Danny Boyle’s ‘Sunshine’ on which a crew of two heading out away from the sun. Very far away.

Far away from Earth, and getting further away with little chance of returning, the female part of a husband and wife team reflects on their journey to date, and her partner’s increasingly tenuous grip on reality. There’s the dawning realisation that the ‘prize’ of being chosen as the pair to go on this mission was something quite different to what it appeared, and the physical and mental deterioration, and some grim details of ekeing out life whilst clinging on to it, and affirming life in a very physical way, make it a claustrophobic read.